PASNAP Condemns Department of Education Proposal that Locks Working People Out of Advanced Nursing Degrees

The Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals (PASNAP), which represents more than 11,000 frontline healthcare professionals across the Commonwealth, forcefully opposes the U.S. Department of Education’s proposal to exclude nursing from the federal definition of “professional degree” programs for federal loan eligibility. This decision would make it harder for nurses to pursue the advanced education our healthcare system depends on—and it comes at the worst possible time.

Hospitals across Pennsylvania and the entire country are struggling with unsafe staffing, rising patient acuity, and burnout levels that continue to drive nurses out of the profession. Cutting off access to federal loans for graduate nursing programs will only make the shortage worse. It will limit the ability of communities—especially rural and underserved areas—to recruit and retain advanced practice registered nurses who often serve as the backbone of local healthcare.

“This proposal shows a fundamental misunderstanding of what it takes to provide safe patient care,” said Maureen May, RN, president of PASNAP. “Advanced practice nurses keep emergency rooms running, staff primary care clinics, deliver babies, provide anesthesia, and support entire hospital units. Blocking nurses from the financial support they need to pursue advanced degrees won’t just hurt the nurses, it will hurt patients.”

“There are many areas of the country where CRNAs and NPs work independently and the community and health systems rely heavily on their expertise,” says Bernadette Golarz, DNP, CRNA, a nurse anesthetist at Temple Health North Campus at Jeanes Hospital and Fox Chase Cancer Center and the president of the Temple North Anesthesia Coalition. “This change from the Department of Education will result in fewer providers in areas where they are needed most.”

Under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, new federal student loan caps for graduate programs that aren’t classified by the Department of Education as “professional” would mean lower loan limits ($20,500 annually / $100,000 aggregate) starting on July 1, 2026. Graduate programs classified as professional would get higher limits ($50,000 annually / $200,000 aggregate).

The U.S. Department of Education has proposed redefining “professional degree” programs in a way that would exclude many advanced nursing degrees, including Master of Science in Nursing (MSN), Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) and research-focused nursing PhD.

Nursing organizations, including the American Nurses Association, have come out strongly against the proposal, which would make it financially impossible for many nurses to afford graduate education.

“By denying nursing students access to the loan programs that make graduate education possible, the Department is effectively deciding that only people with personal wealth deserve the opportunity to become advanced practice nurses, nurse educators, and nurse leaders,” says May. “This move slams the door on working-class nurses and undermines decades of progress toward a stronger, more diverse, more equitable nursing workforce.”

“Making grad PLUS loans unavailable to nurse anesthesia and nurse practitioner students essentially makes advanced degrees unattainable for a huge pool of qualified nurses who don’t have the tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars of cash on hand needed to complete these educational programs,” says Golarz. “This is especially true for nurse anesthesia students for whom all existing education programs are full-time study only and preclude students from working while obtaining the degree. This change will make the existing crises of lack of primary and specialty care for a growing aging population and ever increasing complexity of medical needs for the entire community much, much worse.”

“We are essential and productive members of society who pay back these federal loans with interest,” adds Golarz. “So who is this benefiting?”

PASNAP joins nurses nationwide in calling on the Department of Education to immediately revise its proposed definition and explicitly include nursing.

Nursing is a profession—one that requires extensive education, clinical expertise, and a level of responsibility that affects patient lives every single day. We urge federal officials to meet with frontline nurses, educators, and Union leaders before finalizing any policy that impacts the future of the nursing workforce and patient care across this country.

Safe patient safety depends on a strong, well-supported, well-educated nursing profession. This proposal moves in the opposite direction.